Total newbie question- consolidation

[lauralou501]

I feel foolish even asking the question, but i'm going to go ahead and ask anyway. I know that there's all this talk about consolidating before July 1st to lock in these great rates before they rise. My question is this: when you consolidate, are you starting the life of your loan over again (ie, going back to a 10 year loan)? If so, would you really be paying more over the life of the loan then if you just left the loan alone? Hopefully this makes sense. I've been paying for 4 years and am not sure how I feel about going back to having 10 years left on my loan. Hopefully this makes sense!!!!!!! any help is appreciated. I'm rather clueless in the matter.